What Big Brothers Are Seen As
by Amilya Eclair Farron
Summary: "Dino Dude's your second hero? I thought Dino Dude was your only hero." : Sequel to "What Are Big Brothers For?" - takes place a year after it :


I was originally planning to have this be a second part to _What Are Big Brothers For_, but changed my mind. But yes, this can be seen as a sequel to said fic.

This little oneshot is dedicated to Dark Bia. (Sorry it's not a part of _What Are Big Brothers For_, but for some odd reason it seemed that it should just be kept separate from it. And that this is so late.) I'm also thinking about doing your other request of the whole reunited scene. I might do it and I might not. Depends on if I can come up with anything. But I do plan on writing more Alister and Miruko sibling fluff-ness whenever I suddenly become inspired (or requested). But yeah... these two siblings need more love, wouldn't you agree? After all... they're so adorable! Ahem... alright, moving away from that now...

This is set during the war-era of Alister's childhood. Therefore talk of death, torture, and so forth shall be mentioned. After all, Alister decided to be secretive of his past and the creators decided to let him.

Again this is simply sibling fluffy-ness.

Disclaimer: Alister and Miruko both belong to me. Everything else in _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ does not though. And that's that! … OK fine, I don't own Miruko either! … and Alister… there. Happy now? Good, let's continue with the story then, shall we? Yes, yes we shall.

Reader – I hope you enjoy this oneshot.

* * *

_What Big Brothers are Seen As_

* * *

Smoke and dust filled the air as buildings burned from different tanks' wrath. Each silently crying of the pain and sadness they endured as the two sides battled against each other; both uncaring who and what got destroyed along their destructive path. The echoes of their booming voices bounced down the streets to warn those close by not to get in their way. Even the deathly cries of helicopters above would give themselves away as they flew in the sky in the direction to assist their weaker comrades. Roars of bombs drummed against metal, dirt, or even flesh.

A scruffy redhead cautiously made his way to the lifeless street, ears alert and eyes sharp. Tanks were known to suddenly sneak up on you, no matter how loud they were, and one never knew if it was an ally, a friend. Or an enemy; not minding who they blew out of the way so long as it got them what they wanted in the end: victory. Not many soldiers went on foot to scout vacant roads unless given a hint that their enemies were nearby.

But he wasn't in the army. He was too young to be drafted in like his father.

No. He had snuck down to the abandon markets just a few blocks away from his home simply to gather more bread, a few cans of beans, fresh bottled water (with the exception of two root beers), and some candy bars. Anything really, as long as it wasn't expired or molding. The market's power had been cut off long ago and there was no point in trying to save the meats and milk. They would have to live off anything (so long as it didn't make you sick) until this useless war was over. And so far it didn't seem like that would happen any time soon.

This endless battle had been going on for _weeks_.

He hurried down the crackled pavement with the toy wagon following suit. It gave muffled protests like a scared mule, disliking the environment that not took over the beloved town. Wheels giving a harsh tumble as he pulled it over fierce cracks; it would get stuck easily if he wasn't careful.

Finally though (and thankfully) he was home.

Or was he?

The kitchen would be blooming with baked goodies his mother had made as she softly hummed tunes of lullabies. The television would be alive with updates about how the weather would be lovely for the next two weeks as his father mused over the paper. Action figure flying in the air as his little brother created stories of how said item saved the day. The house newly painted with a lovely shade of a grey-green. That was _home_.

But now the painting was chipped and dull of life, more of a cloudy gloom. The kitchen devoid of the delicious smells and sweet hums as was the living room with its television screen shattered and old newspapers crumpled.

He shuffled to the back of the house and went up the ramp. The grass was even lifeless from its usual lush green. Now it was simply a sad looking – ashy brown and not even weeds grew from how tainted the land had become. The once grand tree that stood in the backyard had wilted from lack of water and sunshine. The small area where the garden had been was long gone; flowers banished from the (now) hard soil it had once stood proud in, roots sinking into the (what was) soft dirt.

"You're home!" Came a joyous cry as small arms encircled his waist as he entered through the back door and he let the small, tired smile slip onto his face. His little brother (thank God) hadn't been taken away from him and he was grateful for that. If he had lost all three of his family… a suppressed shiver slithered up his spin.

"Of course I am." He replied confidently while placing the collected food on the table.

The child poked his head over the surface, big gray eyes staring up at his older brother with curiosity and pure happiness. "I knew you would be!" He grinned and clutched the action figure tightly to his chest, listening to the other chuckle softly. "You didn't run into any trouble, did you?" He received a shake of the head and he eyed the candy bars that (lastly) were placed on the wooden table. "That's good… you just took forever to get home and I was about to send out Dino Dude to find you and rescue you!"

"Uh-huh." The older sibling gave a slight shake of his head at his little brother and handed him one of the candy bars. After all he had grabbed them for him.

"Thanks big bro!" He nodded and started to place the canned beans into the proper shelf. The kitchen fell silent as he mused whether or not to start dinner (though it was a little early); his brother happily devouring the sweet he had been given. Finally though the younger had finished and seemed hesitant at first to ask his questions. "Is mom ready to come home from seeing Aunt Annabel?"

"Not yet Miruko," Alister winced as the pain in his chest throbbed, "not yet."

"Oh." Was all that was given by the other as the room fell back into silence once again.

"But she'll be coming home soon, right?"

Truth was: their mother had promised she would be back by the next day, seeing as how her sister was badly sick with phenomenon and needed some care (she willingly told the doctor, if possible, to let Annabel be transferred to their home but the doctor disproved seeing as how serious it was and didn't want to risk the health of the little ones). But when the next day came there was no sign of her. As was the same for the next few days that had passed before finally hearing from a next door neighbor (Ms. Innes – babysitter to the two younglings whenever their father's business was holding a fine dinner and wanted their employees to go along with their dates/wives) had told Alister of the brokenhearted news.

The town which Aunt Annabel resided in had been bombed during the night. And any survivors found had been placed in the enemies' camps. That was what her father (who was a general) informed her, insisting that she leave to a country much safer until they won the war.

Miruko had been asleep by then, taking his afternoon nap. Ms. Innes had offered (insisted) that he and his brother go with her and she'd watch after them until their father came home. But he refused and somehow she (though heartbroken and regrettably) left the children there; she had promised to tell her father to have someone come out and take them back to the base to which their father was at or, at least, a place that was safer.

However no one had shown up yet to do so.

And Miruko hadn't asked about mom when he had asked Alister if she was coming home the day after Ms. Innes had left. When was that again? How long had it been since then? Another few weeks?

"She'll be back before you know it."

It was worth seeing the toothy smile his brother gave.

Rather than a broken one.

* * *

"How come we had to leave home, Alister?" Miruko asked sleepily as he watched Alister examine out through the broken window of the small business shop they now stayed in. His favorite toy still clutched tightly to his chest. "Mom's not going to know where we are now."

"You know mom will find us. She knows everything, remember?" He answered and pulled away from the window once he saw there was no movement outside. The older Gordon watched as his little brother's head bobbed forward briefly, sleep overtaking him. "Go ahead and sleep. I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

Miruko shook his head defiantly, though softly, as he refocused his gaze on him.

"But you haven't slept either, big brother."

A fact: Alister hadn't gotten much sleep since the war started to drag on and it became less as their mother disappeared. He didn't mind it really, so long as it meant he could keep his little brother from harm's way. That was his duty after all as an older brother. And right now they were the only things they had – they only had each other now.

And during the night he had heard voices whispering and the front door creaking open in protest. He sprung into action, shaking his sleeping brother awake and hurrying him to sneak out the backdoor and squeeze through the loose wooden boards of the fences while he pocketed two cans of beans and whatever bottled water he could keep in his arms. Once he did so, he hurried after him, but before leaving the grounds he peeked to see whether or not his instincts were correct.

They had been.

The enemies' vehicles were in a small pack together, headlights slicing through the thick darkness and few soldiers waiting and listening as the others rampaged to find goods in their home.

"That's OK. Don't worry about me." Reassurance never won nowadays if it was a discussion of his wellbeing. Miruko would watch him with worried eyes and noticed how this had been taking a toll on him.

"But Alister…"

He gave a lopsided smile for further reassurance. "I'll be fine."

"…" The other didn't look so convinced at his brother's words and suddenly beamed with an idea, holding Dino Dude up in the air. "I know! Dino Dude can look after both of us while we sleep! That way you can sleep too, big brother!"

Completely untrue; Dino Dude wasn't real. And he wasn't capable of keeping them safe from the real monsters that lurked about in the fallen town. All that it was was an action figure, a toy made out of plastic and painted to make it look like the cartoon version of the 'live Dino Dude'.

Yet that didn't mean it didn't give Alister an idea.

"That's an awesome idea, Miruko!" He exclaimed and watched the pride fill the child's face. "Man, I wish I was as smart as you. I never would have thought of that."

"Alister, you _are_ smart though." Miruko laughed sleepily and placed Dino Dude to stand on his feet, while lying down on the cold wooden floor and nestling his head atop his arms – using it as a pillow. "Goodnight Alister, love you."

"Night bro, love you too. Sweet dreams."

He watched as Miruko drifted off to dreamland and turned his grey eyes to the small figure standing a few ways from him.

* * *

"I'm still surprised to find you out here, Alister, though the same time I'm not."

Alister shrugged and suppressed a yawn from withdrawing from him; his eyes watering a little. A few feet away from the three, Miruko and another were seated on the floor and playing chess with pebbles gathered from around the room. Days had passed since the incident from their home and he and his little brother had stayed in the building they had gone to. Again life became a rare sight to see in the streets until earlier that day when he had run into three of his best friends. All orphans and hiding out in abandoned buildings too.

"What about you three?"

Tony turned his nose up in the air, frown settling upon his chapped lips. "I got separated from my parents. Chaos occurred in the apartments and people were running in all directions when sounds of tanks and enemy voices came up. Not sure where they are now…"

"I'm sorry."

A shrug was given. "It's better than what happened with Aaron."

"Yeah," Dennis nodded halfway sitting on the windowsill, "when we found him he was a mess… poor guy. He wouldn't talk for _days_ once we took him in and watched over him." He sighed and allowed his head to fall forward, eyes shut from the hard events that had occurred.

"What happened to Aaron?" Alister regretted speaking the question aloud as Tony's gaze became sharp with hatred and malice. Quickly he averted his attention to watch as Aaron helped Miruko play a better move. It was strange to picture him in such a condition; Aaron was optimistic more than half of the time and always speaking his thoughts on matters.

"The enemy had broken into his house and dragged his parents out," Tony's voice was hard as ice, "demanding that they hand over all their food and goods they owned. But they didn't. Why should they? It's their stuff. But those… those _b-----ds_ believed it was rightfully _theirs_." He seethed angrily between his teeth and Alister felt his ears start to pound. "They told them they better change their mind or else. And… and…"

"They tortured them." Dennis finished for him, tone devoid of all emotion.

"Aaron had hid underneath the porch, you know? The place we use as our 'secret base'?" Tony started again after regaining control. "Well, he had a front row seat of seeing his parents bleed near to death… they… they…"

Dennis spoke again, but this time to end Tony's horrid tale. "Aaron didn't tell us. We found out from Mr. Logan. He had buried his parents before we even arrived. He thought they had taken Aaron too until we found him in his hiding spot."

Alister swallowed feeling his throat dry and hoarse from the gut-wrenching tale.

"We're all orphans now, Alister."

The redhead shook his head and turned back to his friend. "You're parents have a chance of still being alive, Tony. And Dennis, your dad has the same chance too. Look I'm sure once we win this war, we'll be reunited with our parents and Aaron can stay with one of us."

"You… don't know?"

"Don't know what?" He glanced from Dennis to Tony, lone eyebrow raised.

"Alister… your dad and my dad were both stationed at the same base."

"What's your point?"

Dennis gave a pained expression. "Alister… the enemy attacked the base and left no survivors. It happened just six days after we started getting into this whole mess. Rona got informed by another general. And since you and Miruko are here… we figured they must've gotten your mom too…"

"That… can't be." It wasn't. He didn't remember seeing any general approach their door since the war had started. And their mother surely would have told… he stopped as his brain played memories for him. There was the time he had found mom crying when he came home after taking Miruko to the park, when it was a little safer than before. And… wasn't he keeping the truth of what happened to their mom from Miruko? To keep him safe and emotional, along with mentally, unharmed from the truth that their mother was…?

"Look, Alister," Tony rubbed the back of his sore neck, "we've got tons of supplies in the church we're staying at. You and Miruko are more than welcome to join us. Though, we all have to commit and search for whatever food we can find in the empty buildings."

"Shouldn't we try to head to a refugee camp?"

The two exchanged glances between each other. "Actually Alister," Tony lowered his voice as if this was top secret; which it was, "we found a few grenades and once we have enough, we're planning on using them against the enemy."

"Are you crazy?" Alister blinked at them. "You're more than likely to end up dead if you do that."

They remained silent, Alister's gaze holding steady with Tony's as Dennis kept his eyes averted from interaction. The only sounds that came in the room were behind them as Aaron congratulated Miruko for the excellent game (and for beating him). The young Gordon requested to play another round, though Aaron remarked they should see what his brother and the others were up to first.

"You should hurry to the refugee camp, Alister." Tony finally ended the silence as the two youngest approached them. "The enemy is closing in and fast."

Miruko and Aaron sent questioning looks at the other two, while Tony's retreating back left the building without another word. Dennis moved and gave a faint nod to the redhead.

"Good luck, Alister. And stay safe." He gave his brother a pat on the head. "You too, Miruko…"

"So… I guess you guys aren't coming with us?" Aaron gave a small smile at seeing the answer in Alister's eyes. Though Miruko blinked in question tugging on Alister's worn jacket; he asked why they weren't going with them though he didn't answer his little brother. "Well, if you change your mind you know where the church is."

Miruko frowned and glanced between the two, Dino Dude held carefully in his hand.

"And Miruko, you make sure Dino Dude watches over the both of you know and takes care of ya. After all, Dino Dude's a real hero, he is. Or, he's your hero and therefore he needs to continue proving himself that he is, right?" The boy grinned and it still seemed hard to believe him being so sullen and silent. It didn't fit well with Aaron and Alister hoped the three would remain safe.

He rubbed his nose and waved. "See ya!"

"Alister?"

He didn't answer although he did pull his eyes away to stare down at his little brother.

"C'mon," Miruko grinned and tugged on his hand towards the made chessboard, "let's play a game!"

"Miruko…" Alister's voice sounded tired, strained even.

"Don't worry! Dino Dude will take watch!"

A sigh escaped past his lips and he let a tiny smile slip on his face. "OK."

He didn't know how long they sat there playing, carefully thinking where to place their pieces to earn a 'check mate' from the other. But after awhile a thoughtful expression crossed Miruko's face as he stuck his tongue out a little.

"Dino Dude is my second hero."

"Huh?"

"Aaron said Dino Dude's my hero. But he's my second hero." Miruko moved the smallest pebble he owned to a new spot. So far he was winning (Alister had occasional made sure that would be the case) and smiled at his older brother in pure happiness. "I'll have to tell him the next time we see him."

"Dino Dude's your second hero?" Red curls shifted as he turned his head to stare at the small action figure standing atop the windowsill, 'watching' the streets for any sign of distress caused by the enemy or the sight of allies. "I thought Dino Dude was your only hero."

Alister redirected his attention back to his brother, his mind wheeling as he tried to think of who else would be seen as a hero to Miruko's eye. Was it that new cartoon series that had started? He remembered how Miruko 'aw-d' at the delightful effects, but still Dino Dude seemed his absolutely favorite. Besides he always carried Dino Dude everywhere he went, sleeping with it even to keep the boogie-man away. Why had, or was, the famous Dino Dude been placed as second??

"Nope, he's my second hero."

"Oh." He gave and after a minute, "Who's your first all time favorite hero then?"

He waited as his brother seemed to be choosing his next words carefully.

"Hey Alister?"

"Yea…?"

"What do you think big brothers are seen as by their little brothers?"

* * *

Yay! Another Alister and Miruko sibling fic added. I really love these two brothers; they're so adorable. OK, moving away from that now.

Again, I apologize for how long it took for this fic to be posted. I would have gotten it up sooner if life hadn't gotten in the way. But it does more than half of the time. Aw well. I'm just glad my new laptop finally downloaded the Microsoft Windows. It took _forever_. (And the guy told me this was one of the fastest laptops that could download 'anything' within a minute. Lair…) But now it's working, thankfully. And I can open docs once again. So hopefully I'll be able to update my current stories I'm working on (I really hope life won't get in the way). But as always we'll see what happens, ne?

I doubled check to see what Alister's three best friends' names were. And that's what I found. If the names are wrong, I apologize. As for Aunt Annabel and Ms. Innes and Mr. Logan are simply OC since they didn't appear/were mentioned in the series. And fun fact (I guess?): Annabel means 'lovable', Logan means "a little hollow" and Innes means "island". Just in case you wished to know, as to why I picked those names. I don't know… they just fit the picture I had for their parts (no matter how small it was).

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this oneshot. Kindly leave a review before you go?


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